The present invention relates to mounting structure for roof rack support members which are supported on the roof of automotive vehicles. The invention is an improvement over the roof rack arrangement disclosed in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 005,389, which has matured into U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,162, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Prior art roof racks such as shown in my copending application employ adjustable straps having gutter clips connected thereto which are adapted to clip onto conventional rain gutters disposed at opposite sides of the vehicle roof in overlying relationship to the doors of the vehicle.
New model automotive vehicles have aerodynamic designs which eliminate conventional rain gutters, and accordingly roof racks cannot be anchored to rain gutters as was common in the prior art. An alternative roof rack construction as employed in the prior art is to provide a pair of rails fixed to the roof of a vehicle, such rails extending longitudinally of the vehicle and being spaced from one another laterally of the vehicle. These rails support hardware that can be adjusted and locked at various positions and serve as a means for using ropes or straps to tie down luggage. Such prior art arrangements require rails which are quite wide and and of heavy duty construction in order to support the weight of the luggage thereon and provide necessary stability. As a result, this type of prior art roof rack is quite expensive.